Publications

surveillance for west nile, dengue, and chikungunya virus infections, veneto region, italy, 2010.	in 2010, in veneto region, italy, surveillance of summer fevers was conducted to promptly identify autochthonous cases of west nile fever and increase detection of imported dengue and chikungunya in travelers. surveillance highlighted the need to modify case definitions, train physicians, and when a case is identified, implement vector control measures.	0	22469230
phylogenetic analysis of west nile virus isolated in italy in 2008.	in italy the first occurrence of west nile virus (wnv) infection was reported in tuscany region during the late summer of 1998. in august 2008, the wnv infection re-emerged in italy, in areas surrounding the po river delta, and involving three regions lombardy, emilia romagna and veneto. wnv was isolated from blood and organs samples of one horse, one donkey, one pigeon (columba livia) and three magpies (pica pica). the phylogenetic analysis of the isolates, conducted on 255 bp in the region cod ...	2008	19040827
genome sequence analysis of the first human west nile virus isolated in italy in 2009.	in 2009, six new human cases of west nile neuroinvasive disease (wnnd) were identified in veneto region, following the six cases already reported in 2008. a human west nile virus (wnv) isolate was obtained for the first time from an asymptomatic blood donor. whole genome sequence of the human wnv isolate showed close phylogenetic relatedness to the italy-1998-wnv strain and to other wnv strains recently isolated in europe, with the new acquisition of the ns3-thr249pro mutation, a trait associate ...	2009	19941775
west nile virus infection in veneto region, italy, 2008-2009.	we report here an update on human cases of west nile virus (wnv) infection in veneto region, northeastern italy. in addition to two cases of wnv neuroinvasive disease notified through a surveillance programme started in september 2008, further four cases were retrospectively identified (in may 2009) by investigating patients with aseptic meningoencephalitis of unknown aetiology occurring in veneto region in june-september 2008. all six patients had symptom onset in august-september 2008 and were ...	2009	19660244
where is west nile fever? lessons learnt from recent human cases in northern italy.	west nile disease in humans has been detected for the first time in italy in two regions, emilia-romagna and veneto. we conclude that also west nile fever cases should be specifically targeted by surveillance.	2009	19317987
west nile virus transmission with human cases in italy, august - september 2009.	in 2009, to date 16 human cases of west nile neuroinvasive disease (wnnd) have been reported in italy, in three regions: veneto, emilia-romagna and lombardia. the number of cases is higher compared with last year when nine cases were identified (eight cases of wnnd and one case of west nile fever) and the geographical distribution indicates spread from east to west.	2009	19822123
west nile virus transmission in 2008 in north-eastern italy.	after 10 years, west nile virus (wnv) re-emerged in italy in august 2008. as on 31 december 2008, the infection affected eight provinces in three regions (emilia romagna, veneto, lombardy), where a total of 794 cases of wnv infection in 251 equine stables were detected on the basis of the clinical signs and as a result of a serological screening in horses living in the area. only 4.0% (32/794) of the serologically positive animals showed clinical signs, and the 32 clinical cases were reported in ...	2010	20042066
west nile transmission in resident birds in italy.	migratory birds are considered one of the main sources for west nile virus (wnv) introduction into european countries. following the wnv epidemic in the late summer of 1998 in a marshy area of tuscany (padule of fucecchio), an extensive ornithological surveillance programme was carried out in the infected areas from 2006 to 2008. several species of migratory and resident birds were trapped, sampled and serologically tested. the results of this surveillance programme gave a useful indication of p ...	2011	22212727
human cases of west nile virus infection in north-eastern italy, 15 june to 15 november 2010.	in 2010, for the third consecutive year, human cases of west nile virus (wnv) infection, including three confirmed cases of neuroinvasive disease and three confirmed cases of west nile fever, were identified in north-eastern italy. while in 2008 and 2009 all human cases of wnv disease were recorded in the south of the veneto region, cases of wnv disease in 2010 additionally occurred in two relatively small northern areas of veneto, located outside those with wnv circulation in the previous years ...	2011	21871228
prevalence of igm and igg antibodies to west nile virus among blood donors in an affected area of north-eastern italy, summer 2009.	following reports of west nile neuroinvasive disease in the north-eastern area of italy in 2009, all blood donations dating from the period between 1 august and 31 october 2009 in the rovigo province of the veneto region were routinely checked to exclude those with a positive nucleic acid test for west nile virus (wnv). only one of 5,726 blood donations was positive (17.5 per 100,000 donations; 95% confidence interval (ci): 0.4ôçô97.3). in addition, a selection of 2,507 blood donations collected ...	2011	21435323
west nile virus circulation in veneto region in 2008-2009.	summarywest nile virus (wnv) was detected in italy, in late summer 2008 in horses and birds in the po valley. as a consequence, an intense wnv surveillance was implemented in that area involving emilia-romagna, veneto and lombardy. this paper presents the results of the september 2008-november 2009 surveillance on equines, mosquitoes, wild birds, dogs and cattle in veneto. wnv was detected in equines and dogs, and, to a lesser extent in cattle and wild birds. simultaneous circulation of usutu vi ...	2011	20670469
novel west nile virus lineage 1a full genome sequences from human cases of infection in north-eastern italy, 2011.	during 2008-2009, several human cases of wnv disease caused by an endemic lineage 1a strain were reported in areas surrounding the po river in north-eastern italy. since 2010, cases have been recorded in nearby northern areas, where, in 2011, both lineage 1a and 2 were detected. we describe here two new wnv complete genome sequences from human cases of wnv infection occurring in 2011 in the veneto region. phylogenetic analysis showed that both genome sequences belonged to lineage 1a and were rel ...	2012	23004685
further evidence of lineage 2 west nile virus in culex pipiens of north-eastern italy.	west nile virus lineage 1 (wnv lin1) emerged in north-eastern italy in 2008 and, since then, it has been detected in animals, humans and mosquitoes. three years later, in the same area, a lineage 2 (lin2) strain of wnv was found in birds and vectors. on august the 21st, during the 2012 wnv entomological surveillance plan, a wnv lin2 strain was detected by rt-pcr in a pool of culex pipiens mosquitoes captured in veneto region. according to the alignment of the partial sequences of the ns5 and ns3 ...	2013	24002937
new incursions of west nile virus lineage 2 in italy in 2013: the value of the entomological surveillance as early warning system.	west nile virus (wnv) is one of the most serious public health threats that europe and the mediterranean countries are currently facing. in italy, wnv emerged in 1998 and has been circulating since 2008. to tackle its continuous incursions, italian national and regional institutions set up a surveillance program, which includes the serological screening of sentinel horses, sentinel-chickens and backyard poultry flocks and the surveillance on all equine neurological cases, resident captured and w ...	2013	24002939
west nile virus in north-eastern italy, 2011: entomological and equine igm-based surveillance to detect active virus circulation.	since 2008, west nile virus (wnv) has expanded its range in several italian regions, and its yearly recurrence suggests the virus may have become endemic in some areas. in 2011, a new plan based also on the detection of igm antibodies was implemented in the north-eastern italian regions of veneto and friuli venezia giulia, aiming to early detect wnv infections in areas where the virus had already circulated during the previous summers, and in adjacent zones. from july to november 2011, 1880 sera ...	2013	22971022
large human outbreak of west nile virus infection in north-eastern italy in 2012.	human cases of west nile virus (wnv) disease have been reported in italy since 2008. so far, most cases have been identified in north-eastern italy, where, in 2012, the largest outbreak of wnv infection ever recorded in italy occurred. most cases of the 2012 outbreak were identified in the veneto region, where a special surveillance plan for west nile fever was in place. in this outbreak, 25 cases of west nile neuroinvasive disease and 17 cases of fever were confirmed. in addition, 14 wnv rna-po ...	2013	24284876
integrated human surveillance systems of west nile virus infections in italy: the 2012 experience.	in italy, a west nile virus (wnv) surveillance plan was firstly implemented in 2008 and 2009 in two affected regions and, since 2010, according to a national plan, a wnv neuroinvasive disease (wnnd) surveillance has to be carried out each year during the period 15 june-30 november, in those regions where wnv circulation has been demonstrated among humans, animals or vectors. moreover, since wnv can be transmitted to humans even by blood transfusions and organ transplants obtained from infected d ...	2013	24351740
heterogeneity of west nile virus genotype 1a in italy, 2011.	west nile virus (wnv) is currently circulating in several european countries and, over recent decades, concomitantly with enhanced surveillance studies and improved diagnostic capabilities, an increase in the geographical distribution and in the number of cases in europe has been documented. in italy in 2011, 14 human cases of wnv neuroinvasive infections due to lineage 1 strains were registered in several italian regions. here we report wnv partial sequences obtained from serum samples of two p ...	2013	23136369
human and entomological surveillance of west nile fever, dengue and chikungunya in veneto region, italy, 2010-2012.	since 2010 veneto region (north-eastern italy) planned a special integrated surveillance of summer fevers to promptly identify cases of west nile fever (wnf), dengue (denv) and chikungunya (chikv). the objectives of this study were (i) to increase the detection rate of imported chikv and denv cases in travellers from endemic areas and promptly identify potential autochthonous cases.(ii) to detect autochthonous cases of wnf, besides those of west nile neuroinvasive disease (wnnd) that were alread ...	2014	24499011